January 8, 2013 This Is It, The Muscovy Duck

I had just walked the Columbia Canal trail and was on my way to pick up Shane from his preschool when I heard Patrick McMillan and another naturalist from Clemson on the radio taking questions about birds.
I called and asked about the black and white speckled, red wattled duck at Glendale Shoals.

"I have a personal relationship with those ducks," said the naturalist.  He had gone to Wofford and met the ducks near the Goodal Envionmental Center where I have met them.  These Muscovy ducks (cairina moshata) are native to Mexico and the Amazon and are seen in lower Texas.  They were wild ducks bred  and domesticated by the ancient  Mayans in pre Columbian times.

The Russian sounding name may have come from a trading company called The Company of Merchant Adventurers to New Lands whose nickname was the Muscovy Company. Or the name could have derived from Miskito, the name of a native tribe in Nicaragua and Honduras.  At any rate, they are not Russian.  They are also not Kosher in the US, but they are kosher in Israel and if they are cooked and served in restaurants, they are called Barbary Duck.  They are said to have a very gamey flavor.

Now that I know the name, I looked them up and have seen pictures of the feral chocolate and white female Moscovy duck.  I have seen several of these with the black ducks.  A variation of chocolate and white is lavender and white.  The ones at Glendale Shoals have pink bills, but they can have red or yellow.  The mystery is solved.

Brandied Barbary Duck Breasts

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brandy
1/3 cup white wine
4 Tblsp currant jully
1 Tblsp Worcestershire sauce
4 Barbary duck breasts halved
3 cups cooked wild rice (one cup uncooked)
2 Tblsp cornstarch
2 Tblsp water

In skillet with a lid, melt butter; stir in brandy, wine, jelly and Worcestershire. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve jelly. Add duck breasts. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer breasts 20-30 minutes or until fork tender, turning once.  Place wild rice on serving platter, top with duck breasts; cover and keep warm. Blend cornstarch and water until smooth.  Combine with brandy liquid in skillet.  Stir and cook over low heat until sauce thickens. Spoon sauce over duck and rice.

With apologies to "Simply Simpatico" a Taste of New Mexico from the Junior League of Albuquerque, a very old copy without a date, but with fantastic recipes.